Abstract

Josef Spindelböck:
Sacramental Marriage
(FKTh 2016-3, p. 182–198)

Sacramental marriage can only be grasped adequately in a synopsis of all its natural ands upernatural aspects; in its incarnatory dimension it participates in the mystery of the bridal re-l ationship of Christ with his Church. In the Church’s history this truth was known better and bet-t er; a special contribution was given to this by the Magisterium of the Popes in 20th/21thcentury. The recent Synods of Bishops on marriage and the family and the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation »Amoris laetitia« by Pope Francis invite us to see the sacramentality of marriage not as something purely static but as a lifelong dynamic process in the perfection and maturation of the spouses which even includes their children. The grace of Christ integrates and perfects the natural qualities and properties of marriage. In this way Christian marriage and family proves itself as an original type of the Church as «domus Ecclesiae«, which should also be fruitful for the common good of society.